


good to bad, lakes to lungs

by carefulren



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Almost Drowning, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pneumonia, Sickfic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 12:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13364694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carefulren/pseuds/carefulren
Summary: Keith and Lance go to a lake during the summer, and by accident, Keith almost drowns. He thinks he’s fine afterwards, but by nightfall, he and Lance both learn that Keith is in fact not okay.





	good to bad, lakes to lungs

The sun is warm against Keith’s back as he toes the cool water. A light breeze teases at loose strands of his hair that managed to slip from his hairband as he cups one hand above his eyes to look out at the crystal clear lake that seems so small yet so big at the same time.

“Hurry up before I die of old age!” 

Keith’s eye twitches out of annoyance, but he obliges, dropping his hand and jogging into the water until he’s sliding forward to swim the rest of the way toward Lance, who is floating on his back in the center of the lake. By the time Keith reaches the brunet, he’s having to kick his legs repeatedly to keep himself afloat for he can no longer feel the bottom of the lake with his feet.

Keith flips around until he’s floating on his back beside Lance, and their hands lazily find one another until their fingers are laced together.

“I think this one may be my favorite.” 

Keith hums in agreement. Every summer, he and Lance leave the city in search of lakes. They searched for this one based on a hunch after hearing a store clerk talk about a mystical lake buried deep in the woods on the East side of town. Neither expected to find it, and yet, after an hour of hiking through trees, they came across a clearing that housed the lake.

“You fall asleep on me?” 

Keith drags his gaze from the sky toward Lance, and he arches one brow in question.

“You’re quiet. Thought you fell asleep, and I was going to have to save your ass from drowning.” 

Keith’s eyes narrow. “I’m pretty sure not being able to breathe underwater would wake me up.”

“Don’t ruin my dream of wanting to be the hero, Keith, geez.”

“Sorry, would you like me to almost drown so you can save me?” Keith’s voice is dripping in sarcasm, and he slides his gaze back toward the sky just as Lance scoffs beside him and tightens his grip on Keith’s hand. 

“No, don’t be an idiot.” Lance falls quiet after that, but after a few moments, he mutters, “I would save you, though.” 

Keith jerks his hand away in favor of splashing water all across Lance’s face, leaving the brunet shifting around and sputtering as he blinks water from his eyes.

Lance’s eyes narrow dangerously just as a smile teases at the corner of Keith’s lips.

“We doing this?” Lance asks, and Keith cocks his head slightly to the side. 

“Sure, but it’s your funeral.” The second the words leave Keith’s mouth, Lance pounces on him hard enough that both shoot underwater. 

*****

“Admit defeat,” Keith says with Lance in a headlock, and Lance tries to struggle free, but Keith’s arm is entirely too strong. 

“Fine,” Lance mutters, and Keith, satisfied, releases Lance, only to barely hold an arm up to block a massive splash directed toward his face. 

“Sore loser,” he mutters as he spits water out, and Lance breathes out a loud huff. 

“You play dirty.” 

Keith shrugs and flips around until he’s once again on his back, chest rising and falling rapidly as his lungs work to slow his heartbeat back down. For an hour, he and Lance messed around in their water war games; they are childish, but what’s the harm in doing something youthful every now and then?

“I’m going to grab an apple. You coming?” 

“Go on ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.” Keith tells Lance, and Lance presses one gentle kiss to his forehead before swimming back toward shore. Keith smiles, brushing his fingers against the small spot on his forehead still tingling from the damp kiss, but his smile drops away to a straight line of curiosity when something brushes against the back of his leg.

He sucks in a large breath and dives under, braving the sting of the water as he slowly opens his eyes. He spots a tree branch drifting away and concludes that that was what touched him, but now that he’s under, he wants to swim a little deeper, just to see.

There’s not much, just a lot of fallen branches, and he manages to reach the bottom of the lake before flipping around to kick back up toward the top. What he thought was the lake floor was actually an old, rotted tree trunk, and his foot shoots through it. He winces as wood scrapes against his skin and jerks his head around while wiggling his foot. He can’t get out. He’s stuck.

His lungs are beginning to burn as he curls down to try and free his foot with his hands, but the wood around the hole won’t budge, either that or he’s suddenly too weak. Darkness creeps at the edges of his vision, and his lungs feel as if they are on fire and about to burn a hole right through his chest. There’s too much pressure weighing down on him; the water suddenly feels like a million pounds, and he lets out a gargled scream that falls silent against the lake water before everything goes black.

*****

Keith’s senses come together all at once. Something hammers down hard against his chest, hard enough to force water up his throat. He coughs and sputters, and next thing he knows, he’s being shoved onto his side as he hacks up a frightening amount of water that burns against his throat. There’s something clamped down on his trembling shoulder to keep him from falling, and he slides a tired gaze over just he coughs up more water.

His vision is fuzzy, but he blinks rapidly until Lance’s worried face comes into view. He looks pale, Keith thinks with a frown. Pale and worried– two factors that just do not suit Lance in the slightest.

It takes a solid minute for the puzzle pieces scattered across Keith’s mind to come together to form a shocking image of realization.

“I drowned,” he rasps out. His throat feels utterly wrecked, and his lungs physically hurt, something he didn’t even think was possible. 

“Almost,” Lance says, and Keith snaps his gaze at the sound of the shaking voice. “I know I said I wanted to be a hero, but I didn’t mean for you to literally go off and almost drown.”

“I didn’t,” Keith mutters in between weaker coughs as he slowly shifts around until he’s sitting up and facing Lance. “My foot-”

“I know,” Lance says, one hand placed carefully over Keith’s scraped foot. “Are you okay?” 

Keith rubs at his chest; it hurts. It feels tight and hot, but he’s alive, so he’s got that going for him at least. “I think I’m done swimming for the day.”

Lance breathes out a shaking sigh and nods. “I agree.”

Keith allows Lance to help him to his feet, and when the two work to gather up their things, he finds his energy returning in slow waves. He’ll be okay, he thinks, It was certainly a scare, but he will be okay.

*****

Keith draws his knees to his chest with a harsh cough as Lance paces the length of their living room with one hand holding a thermometer and the other pressing his phone to his ear. He drops his chin atop one knee with another cough and lazily follows Lance’s frantic pacing with his eyes.

The two had returned to the city late, and Keith wanted nothing more than to take a shower and go to sleep. But, after only three hours of sleep, he was pulled awake by a coughing fit that rattled his lungs and left dark spots dancing across his vision. He thought maybe there was still some loose water swishing about in his lungs, but when Lance felt his forehead, he was suddenly being dragged out of bed and shoved onto the living room couch with only a second to process what was happening before a thermometer was being shoved into his mouth.

He didn’t see the reading, but whatever it was, it was bad enough to have Lance racing for his phone to call Shiro.

“Shiro, thank god,” Lance says, coming to a halt, and Keith perks up slightly with a harsh cough. 

“No, I”m fine,” Lance says into the phone. “Listen. Keith almost drowned today, and now he’s running a fever over 103 degrees, and he’s coughing really bad.” 

As if to punctuate Lance’s point, Keith’s lungs burst with a harsh coughing fit that he tries and fails to muffle against his knees. His muscles tense with each cough, and he can barely feel Lance’s hand drop against his back.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Lance says into the phone as he moves his hand in small circles along Keith’s back. “I know it sounds bad. Should I… Right now? No, I don’t need an ambulance; I can drive. Are you working tonight?”

Keith sucks in ragged gasps as his face pulls together at the word “ambulance.” He wants to tell Lance that he doesn’t need to bother Shiro at the hospital, but he’s struggling to find his voice.

“Yeah, okay. We will be there in ten. Have a bed ready.” Lance hangs up the phone before racing around to get shoes and car keys. 

“Lance,” Keith rasps out, wavering vision barely able to follow Lance’s frantic movements. “I don’t need-”

“Yes, you do,” Lance spits out sharply as he bounces on one foot to get one of his shoes on. “Shiro says so, so we are going.” 

Keith closes his eyes with a sharp cough, but he doesn’t argue further. He knows if he tried, Lance would just call Hunk over to physically carry him out of the apartment and to the truck, and he doesn’t want to bother anymore people than necessary. He silently allows Lance to slips some boots onto his feet, and then he’s being pulled up into a stand and guided out the apartment.

*****

“You should have brought him in as soon as you got back to the city.” 

Keith stirs at the voice, but he doesn’t open his eyes.

“I know. I’m-”

“Sorry doesn’t fix things, Lance. Do you know how bad this could have been? He could have died!” 

At this, Keith opens his eyes to see Shiro and Lance arguing at the foot of the bed, or rather, Shiro yelling at Lance, and Lance shrinking way from the older man’s harsh words. He weakly pulls his oxygen mask from his face.

“I know…” 

“You should know better, Lance! What would have-”

“Enough,” Keith growls out, only to jerk forward into a harsh coughing fit that shakes his entire frame and burns hot against his lungs.

“Keith!” 

Keith feels two sets of hands on his body, but he waves them away as he struggles to catch his breath. When he manages, he swats Shiro’s hand away from placing his oxygen mask back on.

“You need it.” 

“Stop yelling at Lance,” Keith fires back, voice bleeding out anger that can be heard around the painful rasp. “This isn’t his fault.” 

Lance slumps down onto the bed at his side. “But it is.”

At this, Keith wraps his fingers around Lance’s jawline and jerks the brunet’s face to face his. “It’s not,” he says, voice low and dangerous. He keeps his hand on Lance’s face as he drags his gaze toward Shiro. “I’m an adult,” he starts, having to pause to catch his breath. “I could have made the decision to come here right after it happened, but I didn’t. This isn’t on him,” he finishes with a gasp before pulling his attention back to Lance.

Wordlessly, Lance moves the oxygen mask over Keith’s mouth, and Keith lets him before dropping his hand and shifting around until he’s falling back against his pillows with a weak cough. Whatever energy he just had is shooting out of his body as if he’s got the plague, and he finds himself drifting before he even knows what’s happening.

“Lance, I’m sorry. I just-”

“I know. I’m worried, too.” 

Keith nods once, pleased with their brief interaction, and then he waves his hand weakly in front of Lance, prompting the brunet to take it.

Lance does, and Keith instantly relaxes with the steady, warm weight in his hand. His mind quiets, and he nods off.

**Author's Note:**

> Crushing those summaries-- said no one ever. 
> 
> Also, crushing those titles-- said no one ever. 
> 
> Hope you guys like it!


End file.
